PANAMA CITY OYSTER SHUCKER

A Panama City man has placed fifth place in the World Oyster Opening Championship in Galway, Ireland. Honor Allen, who works at Hunt’s Oyster Bar in St. Andrews as an oyster shucker, has won the U.S. National Oyster Shucking Champion two years in a row, in 2016 and 2017, making him the fastest shucker on the competitive circuit in the country. Allen said the key to further success would be getting used to Irish oysters used at the world games, which are broader and flatter than oysters seen locally or at other competitions in the U.S. He said he would be connecting with an oyster bar in Maine that sells oysters close to that shape to practice.